A Field of LoveMinds
by DreamStoryWeaver
Summary: A challenge fan fiction brought to you by Brave Kid! Mallory learns Flashblade drakes are attracted to figure skating skills and hockey and so enlists the help of an unlikely duck to help her win the heart of her secret crush.
1. Go Figure

**Mighty Duck (Animated)**

**A Field of Love-minds**

_**Ch. 1 Go figure**_

The day had stated out much like any other day in Anaheim, California. She had woken up after a highly rare and relatively peaceful night's sleep. For many, this would be the first sign of a good day about to begin. Feeling well rested, she soon had been able to go through her one-hour morning workout, which, again rarely, ran smoothly and without any forms of interruptions. Heck, it was turning out to be such a good day that she had even been able to get in and out of the shower without conflict from any of her friends and associates. It was such a shocker that she had to pause to remember the last time that had ever happened. It never did. There was even enough time to enjoy her favorite breakfast. A _**very**_ highly rare event indeed, considering what normally went on around the Pond. Yep, it had been turning out into a very typical, quiet morning. So why the heck was Mallory McMallard, Top Ace Commando and Weapon specialist of the Ducaine Military Forces, felt that something was wrong?

Nothing had seemed to be out of the ordinary as she instinctively scanned her surroundings. There hadn't been any signs of trouble from the Saurians in over two weeks, nor had there been trouble from the common variety crooks around the city. Wildwing had been keeping public appearances, stunts and photo shoots to a reasonable minimum, much to their manager's dismay. How her strong, level headed leader had been able to fend off the money loving human and his schemes, she may never know. It was a feat she could not help but admire in the white drake. Stars, they even had recently finished and won their final Hockey game of the season not two days ago and had just begun a well-earned off season vacation. No, there was absolutely no reason that would cause the commando girl to feel this edgy sensation in her stomach. It was just a normal, peaceful and quiet morn…

'_Wait. Peaceful…? And Quiet?!'_ Immediately the military red-head took a more alert survey of her surroundings. Duke, the ducks' former Master Thief and expert swordsman, was reading the recent newspaper while enjoy his ritual second cup of black coffee. _'How in the world can he stomach that stuff without cream?'_ Tanya, their technician expert and inventor, was working on some new plans of some kind while eating her morning bagel with jam. _'She really should eat better. She'll burn out of energy on the ice in the first hour.'_ Grin, the team muscle and resident pacifist, was deep into his mid-morning meditation in the corner of the room. _'That can't be good for his legs in the long run.'_ Wildwing, their team captain and golden masked leader, had just now walked in with a check board in hand and was no doubt reading over the weekly schedule for hockey practice. _'On top of everything as always. Hmm, is there nothing he can't do?'_ That just left Nosedive who…

That was when it had hit her. Her uninterrupted workout session, the non-incidental usage of the showers, breakfast… the _quiet_! All of it… Everything pointed to only one possible explanation. Nosedive Flashblade, the Mighty Ducks' left wingman, sharp shooter, and obnoxious teenage member, was nowhere to be found. A peaceful morning and no Nosedive could only equal one and one thing only… A perfect prank set up.

'_Ah crud!'_ Almost immediately the red headed duck went into a defensive stance. Watching and waiting for whatever horrifically obnoxious joke was sure to come. The only question that remained was: Where would it come from? "You alright there sweetheart?" Duke asked once he noticed the redhead seemed to be acting paranoid.

"It's quiet… Too quiet." Mallory stated as she continued to survey her surroundings carefully for the elusive blonde drake. How in the world that obnoxious pain in the neck could continuality stay elusive was beyond her comprehension. "Where's Nosedive?"

"Oh, the kid?" The grey mallard gave a small, understanding chuckle along with a nod. Things were a little quiet that morning. "He's in his room with his pals." He glanced back at his paper as he continued his conversation. "Been, there since yesterday afternoon."

'_Is he serious?'_ The redhead raised an eyebrow at the former thief's casual manner. "Are you trying to tell me…" Surely he had realized the impossibility of what he had just said, didn't he? "That there has been _**three**__,_ wild teenagers…" Surely given the situation, and _whom_ they were discussing, he would have realized the absurdity of what he was claiming. "In the _**same**_ room together… for an _**entire**_ night…" Surely, the grey mallard knew better than this. "Without _**anyone**_**,** hearing a word out of them since?"

The former master thief fell very silent for a moment. Allowing everything that had just been said to sink fully into his mind before speaking again. "…Maybe we should check up on them." Mallory agreed with a grunt and followed Duke out of the kitchen and into the hallway and she made sure to stand right behind him the entire way.

******

_**Pond: Bedroom Hallways**_

As the two Mighty Ducks made their way down the hallway towards the team's sleeping quarters, they began to hear some odd muffled sounds. The closer they got to their youngest member's room the louder the noise got and the more suspicious they both became. It was an odd sound pattern that rose and fell at a quick and steady pace and had what sounded like voice talking mixed into it. It didn't take long for Duke and Mallory to recognized the noise as muffled music coming directly from the blonde drake's room. When the Pond was first modified into a base for their cause, it was agreed that each room was to have a soundproof level depending on each teammate's want of privacy. Nosedive, still being the Puckwold's equivalent of a teenager, was giving a high level soundproof room for three reasons: _1.)_ He was the only **teenager **on the team. _2.)_ Wildwing had advised it for everyone else's benefit. Finally, being the rebel youth that he was, he enjoyed very, VERY loud music.

"Watch the screen, not your feet!" Mookie, one of Nosedive's best human friends, could be heard loud enough over the music as the other two ducks approached the room with caution. Chances were that they were being lead right into a prank.

"I got it! I got it!" The second voice belonged to Thrash, Nosedive's other best human friend, was also heard over the music. As the ex-thief and military commando pressed against the door they could hear movement inside and the sounds of someone jumping around franticly. "Aw man, it's speeding up!!"

"Tag out, man!" Nosedive own voice finally rang above the noise and through the door as he called to his best friend. The negative sound of points being lost clashed with the rhythm of the music that was playing. "Tag out!!"

Figuring that knocking would go unheard, Duke decided to try and open the door to see what was going on. To his surprised it was unlocked and slide open easily. Both he and Mallory were practically knocked right off their boots by a blast of loud dancing music as they bared witness to Nosedive tagging and switching places with Thrash. With a short hop, the blonde drake was on the electronic pad on the floor and broke out into a frenzy of quick and precise dance moves. The positive sounds of points being won chimed along with every 'Perfect' and 'Excellent' statement that shone on the wide screen in front of him.

As the skillfully displayed body movement continued without faltering Thrash and Mookie eagerly cheered their friend. "Whoo! Go Dive! Go Dive! Go Dive!" They both call on in unison as their champion pulled victory from the jaws of defeat.

Both Mallory and Duke only stood there at the door in what had to be gaping awe. Never before had they seen their youngest member move so nimbly. His usual layback demeanor had been replaced by a honed vigor of purpose. His steps were precise and quick and revealed a stamina he only tended to show on the ice or on the battle field. While Duke looked on in amusement, Mallory took in the scene around them with extreme displeasure. The room was in complete disorder! There were candy wrappers of every sort on the floor, empty pizza boxes near what could only be described as a nest of pillows and blankets, empty soda cans and two litter bottles laid among the mass of napkins, paper plates, and piles of movies stacked around the game console. _'There is no possible way that lazy, immature, unprofessional, pest could be related to Wildwing!'_ Compared to the way she knew their strict 'by the book' leader kept his personal quarters, it was an absolute sty! She could only be thankful for the fact that no one outside the pond, present company excluded, could see this.

Wildwing had earn a respectful reputation for being a strong, fair, and level headed leader among not just the team, but in the eyes of their fans and the citizens of this planet. His very demeanor all but screamed perfect and professional in everything he did! Or at least it did in Mallory's eyes. In the passing year she had fought alongside the proud Flashblade drake, the military girl had developed an attraction towards him. Of course, out of respect, she kept such thoughts to herself so as to avoid any awkwardness between herself and her superior. After all it was bad enough that their worst enemies knew of her team captain having a younger sibling within the ranks, not to mention that there were reasons that courtship within a team had always been strictly advised against. However, with such an excellent example of drake-hood, one would think that such perfect characteristic traits would run in the family! The blatant display of laziness reflex back not just on the team, but their leader!

Back up and temper flaring the red headed duck raised her voice loudly at the leader of the awl group. "Nosedive, you insufferable pain in the pin feathers, turn that racket down!!" Duke, being so close to the verbal explosion, had backed away startled by his shorter companion outburst. "And pick this place up! It's disgusting!!"

"Hey, chill out there, man!" Thrash had called back as he diverted his attention between the yelling female duck and the glass screen in front of his pal. "We'll clean it up in a minute!"

"Yeah!" Mookie added as she eyed the rapidly raising score on the upper right hand corner of the TV set. "Dive's totally about to annihilate his old record! Just give him a sec!"

"What he's got to do is clean up this mess!" Mallory retorted as she stomped right up behind the dancing fool, being mindful of keeping a safe enough distance from his flying arms and rapid turns. "This is completely unacceptable! How can you live like this, you're Wildwing's brother for crying out loud!" Naturally, to her complete fury, all her yelling and scolding had only succeeded in being ignored by the distracted duck.

The load music had been easily heard from down the hallways towards the other bunks with the door open. "What the feathers is going on in here?" The voice of the team's captain startled both the ex-master thief and the military commando as he had came up behind them. His signature golden mask that had adored his face that morning had been removed to reveal his still relatively young face and strong bill. His strong blue eyes had widen for an instant at the sight of his brother's room before frowning a little in annoyance at find the source of the loud disturbance echoing throughout their home. The red haired female duck couldn't help but smirk at the perfectly understandable reaction. _'Perfect! Someone who can bring that annoying pain in the neck under control!'_ If anyone could put a stop to this, it would be Wildwing. "DIVE!!" The white drake yelled over the noise as best he could to get his younger brother's attention. "I thought I told you to keep it down or keep the door closed!!"

"Hey, the door was closed, dude!!" Thrash had argued over the music as he alien friend continued to rack up points by the dozens without missing a beat.

"Fer sure, man!" Mookie seconded her best friend's claim as she crossed her arm in front of her, eyes narrowed and frown at the feathered authoritative figures. "Like you guys seriously need to learn to knock."

'_Did that little punk just sass Wildwing?!'_ Mallory thought aggregately as she glared at teens. It was bad enough her team captain had to deal with the insubordination of his own brother, but these society outcasts?! That was completely unacceptable! "Like you'd be able to hear anything over this racket!" Given her military persona, the female mallard stomped right up to the Mohawk teen, green eyes blazing, and startling her into retreating a few steps. "Now turn it down or I will!!"

"Okay, okay, jeez…" The teenage girl mumbled under her breath as she went over to the wide screen TV and manually turned down the volume. "Don't have a cow." If this is how the other ducks tended to react to a little music, then it's no wonder why her best alien friend went out as much as he did.

"It's cool Mook." Thrash waved off the stuffy attitude the adults brought into the scene. He never could figure out why they had to be so uptight all the time. "Not like it'll break Dive's maximum focus."

As if to prove his statement, the human society rebel brought all the attention back to the dancing blonde drake, whom had continued at his pace without pause. Nosedive's blue eyes were completely focused on the screen and the floating arrows, much like how they tended to look when he had the puck and was moving in to score a goal. He had tuned out all the voices and background noise around him and had his hearing narrow in only on the music playing so as not to lose the beat. Apart from stomping down on the right pads at the right time, the blonde duck was also moving his upper body in rhythm.

"Unbelievable." Duke, whom had never known the much younger drake to be serious about anything, could only marvel at how seriously he took to this odd video game. "I've never seen the Kid move like that before." The grey mallard couldn't had help but be impressed at the extra tricks the blonde male duck added to moves.

"What? That?" The older Flashblade brother had shrugged in broad shoulders and grinned at the bouncing duck in front of him in response. "Heh, Dive used to be one of the best ice dancers in school before the invasion." Seeing his younger brother twist and twirl around in that fashion brought back some fond memories of his childhood on Puckworld. "We used to hit the figure skating clubs together after hockey practice to help better develop our balance and stamina."

"Figure skating?" Mallory couldn't help but stared at her captain with some bewilderment. This was a completely unexpected confession. _'Wildwing knows how to figure skate?'_ Most other drakes would had never admit to such a thing.

"Our mom's idea." Wildwing explained as he followed his brother's movements and tried to picture how he might attempt such odd stances on the ice. Knowing Dive as well as he did, he foresaw plenty of bruising before their off season vacation was through. "She figured there was no reason for us not to be tough _and_ graceful on the ice."

Upon hearing about his mother, the younger Flashblade brother chimed in to the conversation during a crisscross mixed with a twirl. "That's how she caught Dad's eye, right Big Bro?"

"Heh-heh, right Baby Bro." That feathery tale of romance had been a favorite to the brothers growing up. The white drake could remember the story of their parents meeting as clearly as if it was told yesterday. "Mom could easily land a quadruple axel on one blade and check a drake twice her size into the boards." The young leader had to sigh happily at the memories of time they had caught their parents during their lovey-dovey moments. Nosedive, being so young at the time and not liking the idea of playing with girls much less kissing one, had always come tattling to him about it. "Old Dad fell for her like a ton of pucks."

'_So… the Flashblade drakes are impressed with ice dancing and hockey skills…_' Seeing an opportunity raising, the red headed female duck had taken note of this newly discovered information and stored it away for future use. This just might be the way to catch the white drake's eye without resorting to a direct and awkward action. "If only he'd put as much energy into his training sessions."

Stating those words out loud had earned her the attention of the very bane of her existence. "Aw, what's the matter?" With a mid air turn the teen had now been facing the arrivals while still keeping step and pace with the game. Proof, that he had most likely mastered the steps long ago and had practiced often. "Don't tell me the big bad Commando gal is afraid of a little dancing."

"Afraid? Please." Although seeing this sample of how well the younger brother was at this particular activity, gave her some insight on how much better his older brother would be. It was actually somewhat intimidating, but she would never admit it. "Dancing is a waste of time."

"Waste of time?" If the statement had caused the blonde drake's steps to falter in any way, non had been able to notice. Although he did switch from his hands back to his feet once again. "Mallie-mallie-mallie-mal, I don't think you realize the advantage that can be gain through the 'Art of Dance'!"

"The 'Art of Dance'?" The redhead raised a brow at the unbelievable corny statement. How in the world could this duck be related to her noble captain? Seriously, he had to have been adopted. "Did you just make that up?"

"Not at all." During the conversation, Dive had continued to execute his coordinated movements without losing time or showing any trace of windedness. "It's been around for like hundreds of years." Wanting to make his dancing ever more exciting, the blonde drake decided to drop down and execute the next set of moves on his hands with his legs in the air. "Honest."

"Oh I'm so sure." The military red head had been glad that she had something to say after seeing the stunt. She had to admit the timing, balance and speed used to carrying it out was impressive. If it had been altered properly it could have been used as an effective defense maneuver in the right situation. However, considering who was performing the stunt, it appeared far too random. That and the fact that he had showing off. Obviously the only reason he could pull it off at all was because of his is youth.

Nosedive could only frown at his shorter teammate._ 'Sheech, does she always have to be so serious?'_ Of all the female ducks the young drake had met, Mallory McMallard had to have been the most uptight chick his ever tangled with. Even some of his old school teachers were more reasonable than she had tended to be at times. Then again, that trait had made it all the more fun to see if he could get a reaction out of her with his pranks. Which, of course, he always did. "Ah, you're just mad' cause I can out dance ya anytime, anyplace, and anywhere, Girly-girl."

"Give me a break!" The utter arrogance of the blonde feathered teenager had never ceased to amaze her. You'd think he'd been in a school yard and the rest of them were his fans. "You think you're a better dancer than me?"

His response had been made with the narrowing of his blue eyes and a teasing smirk on his bill. He could already tell by how her eyes had darkened that her temper had build up another notch. "I don't think, Mal. I know, and for three good reasons."

Although she knew better than to add more fuel to the fire, the female duck hadn't been able to prevent the question from escaping her mouth. "Which are?"

"One, I'm laid back and you're a stiff." As he spoke, Nosedive allowed gravity to have his way with him so he could land on a crab-walk stance. "Two, I'm a fun-loving, wacky guy and you're a gun-hol gal." He had positioned his hands underneath him so he could swing his legs under him in a circle, making sure to hit the right and left sided arrows. "And three, I'm cool and level headed, while you're a grade-A hothead." Finally he had tossed his legs upward with enough force to pull him up into a short arch and land in a crouched stance, then hoped one more time to straighten out.

The entire routine had left the feather female temporary speechless for the moment. For the amount of time it took the younger duck to explain his ridicules point, the feathered female had a good view of the length of his torso during his crab position. She had the time to notice the full flexibility of his hips as he had swung his legs under his body not to mention the strength and balance of his legs. She had even seen the well-toned abdomen that had peeked out from under his shirt during the flying arch.

'_Where had all that been hiding?'_ All at once, she caught herself and shook off the completely random thought. "Aah, you are such a pain!" Mallory had scoffed loudly as she did an about face and headed towards the door. She didn't have time for this nonsense. She had some training to do before hockey practice. Know her leader's scheduling as well as she did, she should have a solid two hours to see how much she remembered about ice-skating and figure out how she could perfect it for Wildwing's approval. Truth be told, it had been a very long time since she went out dancing herself, and she had never really took part in actual ice-skating before, but how much different could it really be from hockey skating?

However, before Mallory had even reached the door, Nosedive had quickly tagged Mookie in and used his well-toned agility to pretty much somersault in front of the military girl. "Na-ah." The mischievous grin had been on his beak, which automatically spelled trouble for whomever it was shot at. Instinctively the Mallory tried to sidestep around the taller teen and had been blocked yet again with a fancy slide of his own. "No go." Another quick attempted side step and another block by some smooth, yet random, dance move. "Denied."

"Get out of my way, Nosedive!" The fiery red head snapped sharply at the taller duck blocking her path. Oh how this immature individual infuriated her all the time!

"Make me." Almost instinctively, the younger Flashblade leaned left out of the way of a right shoulder jab that would have normally shoved him off his feet_. 'Ha-ha, typical Mal-Mal. So predictable.'_ Without giving his teammate time to retaliate, Dive caught Mal's wrist, pulled her forward, and quickly pulled her arm upward so that was forced to spin around twice until she had her back to the young drake. At that point Nosedive's free arm snaked around her waist and pulled her close so as to help keep her balance while still holding onto her captured hand. The position would have been very intimate looking to those around them, if it coupling wasn't so absurd. "Ha-ha, still think dancing a waste of time?"

"Alright that's it!" Temper already lost, the shorter female stomped down hard in attempt to get the drake to release her. Except Nosedive expected as much and moved his feet back, turning the attempt at injury into a comical Tango. "Look here you little maggot!" The military mallard had soon managed to turn to chop at the blonde teen's neck, only to have her hand caught, fingers laced, into a grapple hold along with the other. "I've had just about enough of you and your insubordinate childish antics!"

"Whoa! Whoa, take is easy you two!" Duke quickly got in between the two younger ducks before the usual wrestling match began. Although it would had been interesting to see how long the Kid's dancing could hold out against Mal's Kung-fu.

"For sure, man, can't we just finish the game?" Mookie asked while Thrash was coming to the end of his turn on the mat. Try as her friend might, he just didn't have the same speed and stamina as her alien duck friend. "It's your turn Dive."

As if being told the magic words, the blonde feathered teen had released his hold on the hands the commando duck, dropped the stance and had started making his way back towards his friends. "You got it, Mookie."

'_Wha-?'_ Mallory had almost stumbled when she had been suddenly set free. This had been the first time the feather teenager had actually faced her instead of running behind his brother. He had her trapped… and now he had just walked away?! "Hold on!" Still flustered and angry at being made a fool of in front of her crush, she was itching for a fight to regain some footing. "You think you can just walk away like nothing happened?!"

"Yeah, pretty much." Came the response.

"Wha-?!" She couldn't believe it. He really was just going to walk away. "You can't-!

"Let it go, Mallory." Wildwing came forward and had placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her advance. Unknowing of the inner shiver he had caused from the physical contact. "My brother's the most unpredictable duck I know. Moods just run off him like water off a d… never mind."

"Yeah, right now the Kid's in more of a mood to dance rather than pick a fight." The elder grey mallard commented as the watched the youngest of the team once again took to the mat with his ever-present youthful vigor. "Hmm, I think I'll take a crack at that next." Might as well see if he still had his moves from his youth. "You coming, Fearless Leader?"

The white drake took another minute to study the activity his brother had taken part in. "Heh, why not?" The idea of doing something from his past life sounded like a welcome relief from the many burdens for the role he had to play on a daily bassis. "It has been pretty slow and this ought to ensure we all get a good warm up before practice."

'_Turning a waste of time into something productive.'_ Mallory sigh in admiration as the broad shoulder mallard took a position around the floor mat around the group of spectators. _'Wildwing you truly are perfect.'_ Although she would have preferred to stay and see her leader out do his argent younger brother, she knew that had been the best time to slip out and get on the ice rink to start training and develop what skills she had in ice skating. The sooner she figured out the perfect routine to work at the better her chances of impressing Wildwing would be. So during the next tag in for the mat, the military redhead exited the room.


	2. Dark Intentions

_**Chapter 2: Dark Intentions**_

_**City Limits of Anaheim**_

In a remote corner of Anaheim, California, just at the edge of the city limits, there was an old forlorn looking building. This seemingly forgotten structure stood tall with worn paint peeling off in random places and in others it's weather damaged bricks where already showing. Old wooden shutters were either closed shut against the outside world, wide open with dusty old curtains swaying a little from what ever breeze was there, or practically hanging off their last hinges. Anyway you look at it, the building had obviously been abandoned for who knows how long?

Inside, however, was another story. There were no wooden walls or old fashion windows with dust curtains. No worn out furniture, creaky old stairs or neglected fireplace like you would normally expect to see inside such a building. Not even old faded photographs to decorate the long halls of the structure. Instead the inside was vast and far larger than the outside appeared to be. The walls were made of an alien metal stained a deep wine red that seemed to give the very atmosphere a very cold, curl and merciless feel all around. The only sound that could be heard were the distant rumbling of a large generator of some kind, and the shifting and grinding of gears are large predatorily style robots prowled the domain.

_**The Raptor**_

"Do you know why those wretched mallards keep succeeding over you dolts?"

"Dumb luck." Siege stated as his thick spiked club like tail swayed behind him in agitation as if restless with having nothing to clobber.

"Umm… They stay in great shape?" Chameleon asked nervously as he fully recognized exactly how steamed his leader was. It was one of the few moments were he was only too glad to be the shortest member of the group. It made it all the easier to hide behind his larger, burly, orange teammate.

"It is because the fates have turned against us for forgoing our ancestral heritage." Wraith stated gloomily as he stood with his permanent hunch and his dreary staff ever supporting his thin bony frame.

"No! It's because they work better as a team!" The last Saurian overlord roared angrily as he very eyes glowed and piping hot air swirled around his long scaly mussel. "They work together. Fight together. Protect one another." He explained with ever growing frustration as he called his minions attention to the monitor. The screen was flipping between images of the Mighty Ducks during a number of their encounters with evildoers and recorded victories from different hockey games and championships. "Whither they are engaged in battle or performing in those ridiculous ice games, it's always the same!"

"Lord Dragonus." The ancient looking wizard approached the angry warlord calmly and rubbed his chin in thought as he spoke. "I think I may have something that could help solve that problem."

The decrypted old creature began to wave his bony, clawed hand in a slow circle. Dark mist began forming and collecting around the appendage. The cursed smoke soon spread until it became a fog from which small silhouette of avian figure and larger reptilian forms that moved.

"Centuries ago, when our ancestors had first conquered Puckworld and rained supreme, a special precaution was used to keep the slaves in line." The tiny cloud people moved with the tale of the Saurians ruling over the ducks of old. "Since their numbers were many and they knew how to make use of their icy terrain…" The smoky figures of the huge lizard were soon made out to hold what looked like tiny green and yellow balls of light that flew into the figures that represented the feathered slaves. "If any had ever escape, the Saurian mages had created specialized potions and spells that allowed a form of mind control over the ducks."

"Mind control?" The red dragon growled bitterly at what he saw. "Like the one you used on that pathetic human manager of theirs?" It had been one of the few times he had actually allowed himself to depend on the dark magic of his ancestors. "The one, which failed miserable?" A mere human had been able to break the hold and even before then he couldn't lead those annoying bird to their doom. "Do you dare believe that I would be so foolish as to attempt once again that which has failed me in the past?"

"My lord, please, let me explain." Wraith step back a step from his lord's heated anger. "That spell wasn't…"

"I don't care!" The tyrant roared loudly, causing his minions to flinch and cringe. "I obviously can't depend on it and therefore it is useless." He prowled back toward the monitor screen to glare at the images of his hated enemies. "In any case I don't want to just simple enslave them. I want them to suffer greatly for all the times they've spoiled my plans of conquest!" After snarling at the screen one last time, Dragonus began to pace his thrown room in deep thought. "If only there was a way to use that blasted unity they posses against them…"

_**The Pond: Ice Rink**_

True to her nature, Mallory McMallard dedicated every spare hour of her day studying and practicing a figure skating routine. It had been tricky what with her wanting to keep it a secret from everyone until she mastered it, but it will be worth it. Not only would this most likely gain the attention of her team captain, but like Wildwing had mentioned before, increase her stamina and agility. A win-win situation if ever there was one. Only thing is… just because someone knows how to skate, doesn't mean they know how to figure skate.

"Aaooff!" The military redhead grunted as she landed hard on the icy surface on the rink. "Grrr, c'mon McMallard!" Barking loudly at herself in order to provoke a better performance out of her, Mallory tried again. "Ah! If that over grown duckling is suppose to be able to do it. Then you sure as stars can do it!" She launched herself into the air, twirled once, and managed to land. However when she moved to slide backwards on one leg, she leaned to far and fell over yet again. "Whoa! Drake!" McMallard slammed her fist down on the ice hard for losing her balance on what should have been a basic landing. "This can't be this hard! For crying out loud, you've been skating since you could walk!" Once again she bolted forward, took off into a twirl, landed… and slipped yet again.

This routine had gone on for the last three and a half hours without much pause. Whenever she did manage to make a landing without falling over, albeit still pretty shaky, she failed in shifting into the next stance. "Oooaaff! Geez!" Letting out a frustrated sigh female duck picked herself up and skated towards the penalty box to sit down on the bench. "This got to be something I'm missing." Once she sat down, Mallory took off her skates and proceed to rub at her sore legs. "I never had this much problems skating while playing hockey."

"Yahoo!" The unexpected, enthusiastic cry started the duck and had her ducking out of sight. "Last one on the ice hatched from a rotten egg!" Her military training kicking in, Mallory cautiously moved to peak over the edge of the penalty box door and caught sight of Nosedive jumping right onto the ice, without his skates on. "I win!" He managed to hop on the slippery surface, did a small victory spin, and landed firmly without a hitch. "Ya-ha-ha-Waaah!" He had stood there for a moment when his heel suddenly lost it's gripping and flew out from under him. "Owie…" The hidden female duck sighed and rolled her eyes at the sight.

"Heh, well that's what you get for jumping on the ice without your skates, Dive." Wildwing, mask-less, chuckled as he tied off his ice blades and made his way over to his kid brother. "I swear, sometimes I think you do that on purpose."

The younger sibling grinning up at his idol as he was help back onto his feet. "Now why would I go and do a thing like that?"

"Heh-heh, to get me to laugh every now and then." The white drake laughed again as he wrapped his arm around his beloved brother to steady him on his legs. "Come on let get your skates on." The scene was very touching to the military girl in a way. Their constant struggle against the Saurians took up so much of his time and responsibility that seeing him relaxed enough to drop his guard and simply be a big brother, reminded the redhead of exactly what they were fighting for.

"Thanks Bro." Once his brother tied his skates on securely he took a quick lap around the older mallard, before lightly skating backwards towards the entrance to the rink. "I'm glad ya decided ta come out with me to do this."

"Anytime Baby Bro." Wildwing began to roll his shoulders and do a few stretches as his baby brother balanced a boom box on top the fence facing them. "Besides it'll remind me of the good times back home."

"Yeah, I hear ya." The blond rebel youth went over the small selection of CDs he had brought with him for this brotherly bonding session. "Hey, how about a little Will.?"

"Go for it." The elder Flashblade could tell he was in for quite a workout when his brother quickly skated to his side moments after he had pressed play on the box.

**I like to move it, move it**

**I like to move it, move it**

**I like to move it, move it**

**I like to move it, move it**

**We like to move it**

They kept their movements simple at first. Moving only their upper bodies and shuffling their feet on the ice. Mallory even had the pleasure to see the brothers roll their hips to the beat and do full double rotations that stretched out their thighs.

**I like to move it, move it**

**She like to move it, move it**

**We like to move it, move it**

**We like to move it**

Soon enough the two Flashblades were adding sideways hops, landing with their skates at such a slight angle that no one watching could have figured out that that's what kept them from slipping and falling. One would think that they were dancing on a normal dance floor rather than ice.

**We keep on jumping off the floor**

**Dance till your feet is soar**

**Party hard just like its smarty**

**Girl cause that's what life is for**

They circled each other and had proceeded to do perfect mirror images of each other during kicks, toe jumps and glides. From half loops and one-foot axels to flips and flying quadruple axels, the two male ducks pulled off a modern hip-hop sequence without much hassle. Mallory could only marvel at the spectacle. _'Those two are amazing!'_

**And we don't party hardly**

**We just party hard**

**And not because we board**

**We party cause we born to party**

Seeing that the brothers were too busy with their routine to notice anything, the Ace Commando carefully and quietly made her way out of the rink. Obviously all she needed a little more information to figure out what she kept doing wrong with her stances. A little reconnaissance at the library should help plus give her the necessary privacy she wants for this personal mission. Keeping low enough to stay out of sight, she had soon slipped out of the Pond… just in time to miss Wildwing slipping on a landing, fall, and slide a short distance before carefully pushing himself up again.

"You alright there bro?" Nosedive called over and he through himself into a controlled slide on his knees and smoothly pulled back up to his blades to stop in front of his fallen older brother.

"Heh-heh, sure thing baby bro." With his little brother's help, the white drake was soon back on his skates. "Guess if I ever want to catch up to ya, I'll need a bit more work."

"Yeah, a year of nothing but hockey practice, fighting evil, and saving the world tends to take way time for dancing, but no worries bro." Dive skated a short distance backwards from Wildwing only to pole-volt into a backwards flip, land while doing the splits, and bounced and put enough pressure on his legs to slide right back up right. "I got ya up there once, I'll get ya there again."

"Hmm, thanks Dive." The white mallard chuckled in good humor. The blonde teen being slimmer and faster then him on the ice had made him an ideal candidate for ice dancing. Not to say the Wing didn't have the right figure, its just that he had always been a bit more self aware about this particular sport. "It's a good thing one of us has been keeping up." His kid brother's confidence had been something he had always admired ever since they were ducklings.

"Yep. I figured with you carrying the load of being a leader; I'd carry the load of keeping our family traditions." The two brothers staked along side each other going into one-leg glides and forming backward circles while keeping pace with the music. "Evens out pretty good there don't ya think?

"Oh, yes, very much so."

_**The Raptor**_

Dragonus had been glaring at the news broadcast that had been announcing a grand opening of some new restaurant that the Mighty Ducks have appeared in. There were all in their best casual clothes, standing close together as the manager rambled on in his speech. For reasons either brought up by coincidence or playful antics, the Flashblade brothers were virtually in the same outfits. Both were wearing dark shirts, one blue and one green, white short sleeves denim jackets, Dive's having the team logo on it, blue jeans and white shoes. The evil reptilian overlord had witnessed such incidents between the two duck on occasion… More often than not whenever they had defeated him in a highly sever battle. An attempt at closure on the young one's part, maybe?

"Maybe if we were to capture one of them…" He studied carefully as the camera caught the youngest duck glancing at his brother, smirked, and then suddenly began to subtly mimic the movement of the older drake. Much to the disapproval to the red haired female whom glared and then tried to concealed the childish act by moving herself forward enough to block the camera watching them straight on. "The child perhaps…" The image switched to a side view on the event during the part of the speech being about family gatherings and such. During that time Wildwing had crossed his arms and shifted his weight in boredom. Then the duck had noticed movement to his right and saw Nosedive mirroring him down to his slanted shoulders. It wasn't until the blonde teen raised his brow at the exact moment his did that the masked leader realized the game of follow the leader he had unknowingly been pulled into. The absurdity on it all had a small chuckle escaping his beak and had him rapping his arm around Dive as both a way to get him to stop and to say his thanks. "Then we could use him as a bargaining chip to control the rest of the flock."

As close as that feathered team was, they were nearly as close as those two brothers. In fact every time something were to happen to the young duck, wither is was being abducted or becoming injured, the whole flock tended to become agitated. Yet, could he ensure that the other ducks wouldn't attempt an escape and rescue?

"Lord Dragonus." The gruff voice of Siege, the Saurian's tank of a minion, interrupted the red dragon's dark thoughts. "I think I've got just the thing that's take care of our duck problem." In his large think hands the clubbed tail orange lizard held what looked like two mechanical collars with odd symbols etched on their surfaces. "If magic and tech could bring those birds down, then maybe both at the same time will."


	3. Opportunity Knocks

_**Chapter 3: Opportunity Knocks**_

The long hot days had trickled by with little excitement, save for the summer events that old sunny California was famous for. The sidewalks were full of a combination of tourists, local natives, vacationers, and teenagers scurrying about from clubs to clubs, to the beaches, from malls to malls, to summer flea markets, and stores to stores. All of the west coast was buzzing with summer fun activities and all were willing, ready and eager to be a part of the festivities. However, one particular teenager was having sever difficulty convincing his mentor to allowing him to join in on the fun.

"C'mon bro, please?" Nosedive could be heard begging as he followed his older brother around the pond, desperately trying to ware him down to his latest request.

"No." The older Flashblade brother responded calmly without looking at his younger sibling. It made it easier to avoid his puppy eyed assault if he did so.

Seeing that Wildwing was deliberately keeping their eyes from locking, the younger drake decided to try his verbal assault. "Pretty Please?"

'_So it's going in that direction is it?'_ Wildwing thought as he quickly calculated how to counter. "No. And before you try 'Pitty Peas Biig Bro' in your little duckling voice, let me remind you that you're still being punished for the Mac & Cheese prank you pulled last week." The white mallard stated firmly and effectively cutting off that sneaking little trick. _'Mom would had been so proud.'_ He mentally had to pat himself on the back for that one. "You still have a week to go."

"But it's just a few bucks!" Nosedive cried after recovering from what he was sure had been a memory relapse of his mother doing the exact same thing to him as a duckling. "C'mon bro, just this one time!" Turning to his last resort he hugged his favorite person around his middle and made an offer he couldn't possibly refuse. "Please Wing? I promise I won't ask for _**anything**_ else for a month if ya help me out. Flashblade's honor."

'_Ooooh… tough choice.'_ On the one hand he could stand firm and carry out the full three weeks financial grounding his had set up for his brother and only suffer a week of impatient grumbles for missing this week's latest movie, or comic issue… Or he could give in and win an entire month free of any form of request from his youngest sibling. _'What to do?'_ Now normally such a deal would never be able to be fulfilled by just any pair of siblings. However, they were _**Flashblade**_ sibling. Once a Flashblade, be they child or adult, gave their word on anything, it was a guaranteed binding arrangement. Its even considered a taboo if ever broken._ 'What to do…?'_

"I'll even promise not to prank _**anyone**_ for that whole time."

Thus, the stakes had been raised. _'Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!'_ He was considering it. The golden masked leader had actually been considering it! _'How would mom and dad handle this?'_ Now the white mallard understood what people had meant about 'Dealing with the Devil'… Which instantly reminded him of their parents' number one rule of life. _**Easy way outs are short-term goals. Always go for the long run.**_ "Sorry baby bro."

The white mallard soon left his younger brother standing there almost as stunned as he was. He did it. After seventeen years of relenting he actually outlasted his baby bro. Wing just had to get out and celebrate before it got jinxed and before his brother could make him another offer he'd most likely agree to. _'He resisted the deal… He actually resisted the deal. Oh sweet drake he's turning into Mom!'_ Dive was torn between being shocked, amused, or proud for his older sibling finally learning how to put his foot down. After that whole incident when Phil got his mind controlled by the Saurians and having to turn on the water works to convince his brother into walking right into a trap after he got that concussion in the mountains, he had been worried about his brother's resolved. _'Of all the times for you to assert yourself, Bro!'_ He turned to face one side of the hall and leaned back against the wall behind him, crossed his arms and looked down in thought. _'Now how am I suppose to enter that contest?'_

_**The Locker Rooms**_

Mallory was NOT in a good mood. Hours of studying and practice had left her with exhaustion, hunger, a headache, and sore with several bruises. Seemed like whenever she managed to a step forward in her advancements she gets set back another three! The balance needed for the glides and one legged figure eights she had been able to get the hang of, but the jumps, hops, and mid air twirls had been kicking her pin feathers. All she wanted right at that moment was something to eat, a hot shower, and nice long nap. She made her way down the elevators and into the hallways where she noticed and ignored Nosedive leaning against the wall looking at piece of paper.

At the sight of the fiery tempered duck, Nosedive straighten and followed her into the kitchen, hoping that he might actually have a chance to get what he needed from her. "Yo Mal, hold up a sec."

"What do you want Nosedive?" After the long solo training session she had put herself through and the very little result that came on it, Mallory was in no mood to deal with anything or anyone at the moment. Especially, the person, whom she had officially labeled as 'the Blonde Rebel'.

"Well, ya see…" No matter how he asked for it, it was going to come out awkward. Plus, he could already sense her bad mood, so he might as well just come out and say it. "There's this dance club near the mall-"

"You can't be serious…" This couldn't possible be going where she thought it was going could it? Impossible! It had to be the makings of another prank and there was no way she was going to play any part of it. "There is no way I'm going dancing with you."

That tone again. Why does she always use that tone with him? "What is with you ducks?" The one flaw about being a passive aggressor… was that sooner or later your top **will** blow eventually. Luckily for everyone else Dive wore his emotions on his sleeves so as to let out his frustrations in controlled bouts so as to prevent that sort of build up. That didn't mean it wasn't just as loud. "I'm not asking ya to marrying me! I just want to go to the dance club!" The outburst ended with him slamming both his fist on the counter and then crossing his arm and resting his head on top of them.

"Whoa…" Tantrums she had seen. Annoying whining she expected. An argument she could handle easy. This… This was a glimpse of a temper she had no idea even existed. "Where did that come from?"

"The club down by the mall is having a dance off to celebrate summer break." As if to prove that he was telling the truth, Nosedive pulled out a folded poster of the event in question. "First place winner is supposes to get the first new, never before seen in stores, Japanese design, virtual game system! It's like the most advance game station up to date!" Along with the poster the young drake also pulled out a 'Gamers' magazine and turn it to the page that help the information on the object of his interest. "The base is like one big control pad that controls game moves like running, jumping, kicking, etc. The gloves are what the player uses to attack, block, shoot, and whatever else ya use your hands for in the game. The helmet lets you see and hear what going on in the game. It like your actually there!" It was all Mallory could do to keep up with what he was saying as he pointed to each individual item on the picture and explain it's purpose. "It's even going to come with seven new games!"

The redhead could only lift a brow at him by now. "How do you know so much about this thing?" This had to be the first time she had ever heard of him actually knowing something about something.

"Remember that tour Phil booked us on in Japan?"

'Remember? I wish I could forget' She groaned loudly at the unwanted memory of the experience. What should have been a simple photo shoot, that later would have lead to a chance to shop at one of the most prestigious malls in Misawa, turned into a robbery preventing fiasco. "Eeeak… Yeah?"

"Before that whole thing with the photo shoot went down, I snuck away from you guys while Phil was walking us through the mall to the booths." It had been the easiest escape attempt of his life. All he did was stop walking long enough for the others to get far enough ahead to not see him change directions.

"Is that when you got that black, sleeveless under-armor shirt?" Mallory distinctly remembered the blonde drake having a completely different set of clothes when he had regrouped with them to stop the armed robbery. "Along with those white pants, wristbands, and cloth elbow pads?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I did." When was the last time he had a chance to wear that outfit? There just never seems to be a good enough occasion for such fashionable styles. "The style was displayed in the window and was just screaming my name!" He remembered how excited the staff had been to have a well-known American athlete purchase from their store and enjoy the product enough to wear it right out of the store. "Like it so much I wore it out." He guessed that any human with a management position would be highly cheerful at free publicity.

_**Flashback**_

"_Anyway, I was about to track you guys down when saw this cool arcade not too far from the store."_ The room was big and spacious even with the multiple games within it. _"I went in and that when I saw it!" _In the center was a large game platform adorn with a large screen illuminating with colorful images of arrows flowing upward towards the top of the screen.

"_It was playing some cross version of Dance-Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero and these two guys were jamming like there was no tomorrow."_ The floor panels lit up with every step taken by the percipients. They wore thick boots, gloves, and helmets with circuitry wires carefully lining the outer surface. _"One of them was practically in the same outfit as I was, only his shirt was blue; he was the one who won." _The kid's opponent had nearly tripped in his exhaustion as he left the stage.

"_He spotted me after watching the other guy get off the game floor."_ The look on the boy's face was one of pure fandom at the sight of the alien athlete. In a culture that features many types of animal based characters in their televised entertainment, meeting one in the flesh was very exciting. _"Turns out he was a fan and invited me on the floor to go a few rounds with him." _An offer that the blonde drake had taken with youthful vigor. He remembered how delighted the crowd had been when he stood on the stage and asked what he needed to do. _"Took me a bit to figure out how to work everything, but I once I got it down, it was on."_

"_It turned into a stalemate what with that robbery that happened later on, but it was cool."_ Dive had caught his new friend in the crowd cheering and which pumping his fist in the air at his triumph. He had even managed to snap a few pictures with his camera phone of the incident. _"Saw the guy again later at the rink we went to the night before we had to do the skating show Phil roped us into."_ It had been exactly three day after the shooting and the young mallard had just finished practicing his solo and had been leaving to join the other at the hotel. The small group of fans invited him to go clubbing so as to give him a full scale tour of the city. _"Hung out with him and his buddies, thanked him again for the fun, gave them all autographs and passes to the show."_

_**End of Flashback**_

"We've been pen-pals now for about three mouths." Dive grinned into his soda at the thought of his over seas friend. He soon made a mental note to send and e-mail to him later that evening. "His name's Toshi, by the way, great guy has a baby sister now."

"Cute. But back to the topic at hand…" Mallory swallowed her bite before continuing the conversation. "Why do you need me along?"

The feathered teen had blinked at her for a moment. "Along for what?"

She could only raise a brow at him. "The dance club?"

"Oh!" He had actually forgotten about it for a moment during his story. "Yeah, right! See ya have to pay a fee to enter the dance off and you can pay half off if you have a guest with you, its some kind of charity thing or something." Given his mannerism he didn't really put that much thought into that particular detail and continued. "Since Wildwing cut me off from my account for that whole Mac n' Cheese prank, that's the best shot I got!"

"Well…" Though she really didn't want to, for some reason that pleading look in his eyes was getting to her. She had to have been more tiered than she first thought if it was actually affecting her for once. "Did you try your friends?"

"Mook's stuck baby-sitting her cousins for the next week, Thrash is volunteering at the comic convention that night, Buzz is going to be in a late meeting about some new invention of his, Duke's going out, Tanya's formulating some what-not, Grin's on some soul hike, and Wing's on monitor duty." He had went as far as to count on his fingers the people he had asked before so as to fully eliminate anybody else the military girl would have sent him off to. "I even asked Phil!" To her silent wide-eyed response he merely stated, "That's right I went there." Desperate he did the one thing he was sure would work on the military duck. He dropped into a begging position at her feet. "So, please Mal? I'm on my knees here, girl! On my knees!"

"Uh… Hmm… Well…" It was then that Mallory had gotten an idea on how she could use this to her advantage for her secret training. "What kind of games comes free with the deal again?" If she played this right… She'll have the one person that could teach her exactly how to impress her leader and secret crush.

"Battle of the Bands Royal, Dance Off: Extreme Rhythm, Battle Dance 5, Halo Revolution: Raise of the Clans, Snake Commando 4: Revenge, King of the Mountain: Kung-fu edition." Dive listed each of the game that had been advertised in the poster without stopping to think about why the gun-hole gal of the team was suddenly interested in knowing the names of the videogames. "You get to pick the final one from a list of the games that haven't even left storage yet!"

"There are military games?" Now there was a sensible concept if she ever heard one. "And this thing puts you right in the game?" Maybe she could even get a bonus out of this if he truly is that desperate. "Hmm, alright Dive, I'll go."

"Yes!" Almost instantly the blonde drake did a back flip that had him spinning around on his hands. "Yes, yes, yes!" He kept the momentum up to throw himself back into the air to land on his feet and into a smooth moonwalk.

"But only under two conditions."

That had him freezing in his mini victory dance. _'Oh boy, here we go…'_ He should have known there would have been a catch with this redhead. "Name'em." If anything he'd probably wind up running errands for her for the next few weeks.

'_Okay, it's now or never…'_ Mallory took a deep cleansing breath before going forward with her plan. "As much as I hate to admit this…" Who ever said 'Pride was a hard lump to swallow' had to have had this exact moment in mind when they said it. "You're a pretty good figure-skater and..."

Nosedive had actually paused for a moment before sliding back into his stool to study her. "You want to learn how to figure-skate?" **That** had been something he really didn't see coming at all.

"I've been trying to increase my balance and stamina on the ice for a while and seeing how well Wildwing and you were the other day, I figured I'd give it a try." She kept her voice casual enough as she explained her reason. There was no reason to tell him the whole truth. That would be asking for trouble. "But I can't seem to get the landings right." It was still hard to admit that she needed **his** help of all things. "I… Huurrgh… I could use a few pointers."

"Okay…" That wasn't all. He couldn't place his finger on it, but he had a feeling there was much more to it than that. He was not going to pass up this opportunity though. "What's the other condition?"

Satisfied that he didn't think anything else of it, she decided to voice her 'price' for helping him out. "You'll have to agree to let me choose the last game and to use the consol for combat simulation practice." She crossed his arms in a satisfactory manner. Confident, that she now had him right where she wanted him. "That Snake Commando 4 sounds like my kind of game."

"Okay, technically that's three conditions, but Deal!" The two shook hands and the agreement was made.

This was all too perfect. Mallory smirked to herself knowing all too well that Nosedive's hands were now officially tied in the matter and that he'd have no choice but to hold his end of the bargain no matter what the outcome may be. With the younger Flashblade's help it would only be a matter of time before she had what she needed to impress the older sibling. There was no way she could fail now.


	4. Battle Dance Pt1

_**Chapter 4**_

_**Battle Dance Pt. 1**_

_**The Pond: Mallory's Room**_

'_Okay, McMallard.'_ Mallory had began mentally briefing herself as she put on the finishing touches to her evening wear. She had decided on a simple yet fashionable short, red, cotton dress with dressy white spandex pants. The redhead had toped the look with an red ascot around her neck _'It's almost zero hour.'_ Although Nosedive had said to dress comfortably, it was after all a dance club they were going to. The outfit had provided both comfort and easy maneuverability. She might as well get in a dance or two if they played anything she liked. _'You know the details for your mission.'_ A quick sprits of some new light scented body mist she had been meaning to try out and some comfortable shoes to match her clothes and she had been ready. _'Rendezvous with the renege and escort him to the designated area.'_ A quick check of her watch told her that she had just enough time to make it over to Nosedive's room and get him moving. Being punctual had been a trait the military duck had taken great pride in and she hadn't been about to break it. _'Make contact when necessary.' _Once she had secured her purse, Mallory made her way to the door. _'Engaged only at the sigh of trouble.'_

The female duck had marched out the door as soon as it had whooshed open. Almost immediately she had ran into something and was caught before she had stumbled backwards. "Wow, hello!" The arms were slim and had been well toned with muscle and held her with a gentle support until she had been able to get her feet under her. "Heh-heh, you alright girly-girl?"

"Wha-? Nosedive?" He had been wearing the Japanese style clothes from the photo shoot. The same white pants, cloth elbow guards and black, sleeveless under armor shirt… That had now molded into the very shape of his athletic chest between the flaps of a white jacket. _'What am I doing?'_ Mallory had immediately caught herself and had backed away after a good shake of her head to clear it of that random observation. "What are you doing here?"

"Uhh, seeing if you were ready?" The younger drake had stated in his good humor as he checked his watch for the time. "It's almost time to go."

"Y-yeah… I know." What she had meant to say was, _'What are doing here early?'_. This had to have been one of the few times, if not the first, to see him on time for anything other than practice. "I was coming to get you."

"Oh, well, since we're both ready, lets get going." In an unexpected move for the military redhead, the taller male had stood of to the side so as to allow her to walk ahead of him.

_**Anaheim Mall Dance Club**_

It had taken only a few minutes to reach the dance club by Duckcycle. Which, both had decided to take their own should either one, most likely Mallory, decided to leave early. Outside the lively building had been a thick line of people waiting to get inside and join in the fun. The two athletes had decided to stay in the back so as to avoid a rush of fans coming at them for souvenirs autographs.

"Hey there Tony!" Nosedive had called out to a club bouncer guarding the entrance as the would be partiers paid there way inside. "What's the haps?"

"Hey ND!" The tall muscular human had greeted the feather couple with a welcoming grin. "Welcome back man." The two had shared some kind of secret handshake in greeting as Mallory looked on while paying the fee. "Hey, good game last week. Ya made me richer man that time."

"I aim ta please, Ton!" The blonde drake saluted his farewell as he and his lady escort for the night entered the facility. "I aim ta please!"

The place had been packed with dancing teenagers and onlookers mingling and gossiping about the latest topic. The music was loud and energetic, the room had been heated with the constant movement, and the night had been filled with youthful vigor. Many on the occupants had turned their head at the famed feathered arrivals and had split between chatting about being in the same room with them, wanting to met and talk with them, and, of course, asking for their autographs. Thankfully, it didn't last very long once the tall male duck had made the announcement that was getting on the dance floor. From the cheers that had erupted from the news, the redheaded female duck had figured the he was a novelty regular among this particular group. Since the song had been one she wasn't familiar with, Mallory had decided that she had better just stand back and watch while 'The Blonde Rebel' do what he did best. Show off.

"You look like a complete fool." The female duck had stated as she watched the younger drake do some version of shimmy cross with the twist.

"Don't count me out just yet, Mal." Dive had answered back with a look that had said that he welcomed the challenge. "I'm just warming up."

In a sudden display of agility, Nosedive had back-flipped into a short summer-salt and had landed with his legs stretch completely out in a perfect split. The crowd that had gathered around both awed and groaned at the near painful looking feet they had witnessed. However that had soon been forgotten as they began to whoop and holler when the blonde duck had lifted himself with his arms and swung his legs around underneath him. Having grown up on ice with skates on his feet and being the athlete that he was, his balance had been like that of a professional gymnast. Even Malory had been impressed as she continued to watch him spin and swing his legs higher until was spinning like a top in a handstand! The crowd cheered him on and as he lunched off and landed on his feet once again in a finishing move that had everyone applauding.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the freak show of Anaheim." A sly sounding yet arrogant voice had managed to grab Dive's attention despite the loud booming music playing all around them. A short, teenage, human boy wearing a pair of round glasses and a bowl style hair cut had approached the tall duck. "Didn't think you had the nerve to waddle out in the open without your large babysitter." He had on clothes similar in style to what Nosedive had been wearing only it had been obvious that this had been the first time he had ever worn it. Next to him stood a teenage girl with pale blonde hair wearing what the drake had only been able to assume was some overseas style of clothing and not a school uniform of any sort.

"Well somebody had ta show up and entertain the crowd." The famous drake had replied coolly to the insult with no hint of irritation in his voice.

"True." The out of place teenager had smirked in the belief that he may have found a way to one up his rival. "The clowns are usually the first to perform."

However, the large duck's mind had once again proven too quick. Dive was no stranger to trash talking and most certainly had been no armature. "Well, that explains your outfit." Apparently his esteemed privileged prince of North Anaheim had attempted to pull off the teen rebel look. Except, the boy's was too proper rather than standing with a slouch or a shift in his weight. His clothes, although the right style, were neatly pressed as if he had been going to a meeting rather than a club.

"Nosedive?" Mallory had seen her teammate being targeted by this shady character and had heard the tale end of the verbal jabbing. "What's going on? Who is this guy?"

"Oh, Mal, yeah, this would be Gregory Steward." The blonde alien athlete had introduced the miffed rich kid to his teammate in his offhanded manner. "One of North Anaheim's finest students and self proclaimed King of Cool."

"Those born into wealth tend to be kings." The privilege, bowl cut, brunette stated with an edge to his voice as he composed himself. Once he felt in control again, he had then in turn introduced his female companion for the night. "This is Kristine. North Anaheim's finest female student, well renown violinist, and might I add is top in her class at the North Anaheim dance troupe."

"You must be his date." The polished blonde had stated as she measured the redhead carefully. She soon had to smirk to herself with the same arrogance as her date. "Don't look very much like a dancer." She knew a dancer when she saw one and the female duck's body language said anything but. "You're lacking grace in your stance." However, having been in the military, Mallory had known how to read people as well, and she did not like what she saw in the prissy little blonde.

"Graceful enough to take out 3 to 5 full grown dudes on her own." Nosedive had stated with a smile at the fact that both humans widen their eyes a little at his bluntness. "May I introduce Mallory McMallard, Top Ace Commando, and Weapon Specialist of the Puckworld Special Forces."

Kristine had been sure that he had been making a joke. The female duck didn't look at all like those horrendously mannish women of the army. "Well that's rather unortha-Ooaoh!" However her lady-like handshake had been met with a firm, no non-sense, grip. It had been Mallory's only way of giving a non-verbal 'friendly' warning.

Although he had seen what was about to occur in the next few second, the taller drake just couldn't help the line that came out of his beak. "Did I mention she specializes in hand-to-hand combat?"

Gregory had all at once exploded and had every head turning in their direction. "That was deliberate!" As he had hoped, Mallory had jumped in some surprise at having a figure pointed at her in accusation. "We'll charge you for assault!"

Eyes blazing for a fight, Mallory nearly grabbed the oblivious dead human; then a voice interrupted her train of thought. "Assault?" Diverting the attention away from her, Nosedive had spoken in a perfect contrast to the loud raging snob. "All I saw was them shaking hands." Then the blonde drake had turned from the angry human to the surrounding crowd, arms open for anyone to say different. "Anybody here _**seen**_ anyone hit anyone?" His words had gotten those around them thinking about the situation. There had been some curious mumbles however none had come forth as witnesses. Just as the duck expected for there was no sign of bruising or anything that could be associated with assault. "Tony. Yo Ton, ya see anyone take a hit." Nosedive had even called over to the club's security guard whom had been watching the two couples and had seen nothing other than a handshake exchange between the two females. "No? Well then there ya go."

"She tried to crush my hand!" Kristine had nearly screeched in outrage at how the male duck defended her assailant.

"Crush it?" At that the famed feathered athlete had tilted his head and raised a brow in a obvious show of confusion. "Wha'chu' talk'n bout, girl?" The slight chuckle behind the words made it as if he had been explaining the simplest and most obvious thing in the world to the girl. "That's the way we always shake hands. Check it yourself." The drake turned to his lady friend and shook her hand with the exact same military grip she had done. Mallory, although surprised by the good firm hold, only matched it without a sound. "Seriously, Greg, ya shouldn't try making a scene just because your girl has a weak grip."

The infuriated brunette growled as his date flushed in offense at the comment. "We'll see who has the weak grip after this contest." The way the duck had kept his cool throughout his accusations had made Greg look like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. "See you the dance floor Nosebleed." The crowd parted around the two teens and had snickered quietly at their embarrassment.

Instantly, Mallory had growled irritably at the retreating backs of the two snobbish humans. Normally whenever she was confronted in such a way, especially without provocation, she would go after the instigators and give them a well-earned verbal lashing. "Why that little…" However, her escort for the night had for saw the possibility and had held her back with a light grip on her shoulder. "What a creep!"

"You said it, Girly-girl." Nosedive agreed wholeheartedly with his highly annoyed and spite fire teammate as they watched the miffed humans walk off. After a while he had soon turned around and began to steer her the eating area of the club. Yet he had kept his hand on her shoulder incase she decided to run after them and he needed to grab her.

"What the heck was his problem?" She had all but demanded as she followed the drake over to the concession stand. A pain in the neck the young Flashblade may have been at times, but he had done nothing to earn that completely unprovoked confrontation.

"Hates my guts." The taller duck had stated as a matter of fact as he sat down at the booth and signaled the server for two sodas.

"Obviously." Mallory had replied as she took her seat as well. Yet, something was not adding up. _'What could he have possibly done to make that human so mad at him.'_ Due to his age, good-natured attitude, and fame the feathered teenager tended to be very popular with his age group. "But why?"

"Well…" Nosedive took a moment to back track in his mind to the day it had all started with the miffed rich kid. "There was some battle dance thing that went on at Thrash and Mookie's school. They were going up against North Anaheim to win a trip to L.A. for some concert or other." Giving his nature, the blond teenager had paused to think over what it might have actually been before shrugging and had returned to the telling of his tale. "Happened a year ago, don't really remember. Anyway, they invited the Grinster and me to appear as guest stars to boost up a fundraiser they had going to update the school equipment." It had felt strangely familiar to have been among a student body again. The movement, the classrooms, the noise, and overall feel of being in a school again had been a surprised delight the young rebel hadn't expected. "The guys showed us around, introduced us to some of their school pals and teachers, I mingled and signed autographs and even practiced along with them. Heck, I even let Mookie talk me into enrolling for their trial foreign exchanged program on a dare." It had been a decision he never regretted. _'Maybe I should sign up again…'_ The fun he had during the months that had followed with his friends had been very memorable and dear. "It was pretty cool, I'd get to hang out and learn at their school for a month and see how the humans do their thing and they get a celebrity in their mitts and earn popularity points for their district. Best of all it fell right on our break in between games."

"Wait… That's where you've been all month last year?" The military redhead had asked with a wide disbelieving eyes. "In school?" That had most certainly not had been her guess as the whereabouts of the golden hair rebel.

"Wild, huh?" His wide grin had shown brightly in his blue eyes at her surprise.

"I'll say." The female duck hadn't been able to help the amusement in her voice at learning this little bit of info. "I never thought you of all ducks would actually spend time in a classroom."

"What can I say? I was bored." The feathered teen had shrugged playfully at the statement. He hadn't thought he'd actually volunteered for such a thing either. "Besides, it kinda reminded me of being in school back home." Those human science and mathematics were fairly simple compared to what he had been used to, but the subjects of Earth's history, language arts and government were pretty interesting. "I was only at grade level 15 and what with the invasion, I technically never got to finish."

"Oh…" Mallory glanced away in a sudden pang of guilt. _'That's right.'_ She had forgotten that the school districts were closed for the warm season break on their world during the time of the Saurian invasion. _'He never even gotten the chance to even graduate.'_ She had remembered several times when she had caught the younger duck with his brother and Tanya going over some form of homeschooling during season breaks. She had decided it was best to make a tactical change in plan was in order to avoid further damage. "So what's the deal with Greg?"

"Ah-man grade 'A' ego! Guy thought he was best cause his parents were owners of some studio or something." If there had ever been one thing that Nosedive never liked in his lifetime, it was someone with an ego. Pride he understood and could respect, but an ego? No, not happening. "Each group was a three man team and had to either imitate the other player's moves with a twist or totally out do them. Greg and his team were blowing the others away and soon they wound up going up against Mookie and Thrash's team in the final round." It had been at that point that the red headed had noticed that the young Flashblade had pause and was thinking hard on something. "But something really weird happened just before the last round started. Thrash and Mookie's third guy, I think his name was Jack, accidently hurt his leg before the last announcement was called."

Mallory had caught the tone of his and her suspicion had automatically grown. "What exactly was 'weird' about that?"

"Jack had to pass the refreshment stand to get to the dance floor." He had remembered clearly how North Anaheim's team had gathered around the refreshment table. "Before Jack fell, I noticed Greg's elbow bumped over one of the cups of ice on the table."

That had the military duck narrowing her green eyes and frowning deeply. "Sabotage." She knew there had been something sleazy about the human when she first saw him.

"Or an actual accident." Nosedive had shrugged as he puzzled over what he had seen back then; feeling that he had in fact known deep down, but just hadn't been sure enough to prove it. "I had just finished filling out that Foreign Exchanged Program form and gave the principle the go ahead to file it in the system when I saw it." It had, at first, looked like Greg had been reaching for a cup of ice and had just bumped the one near the edge. "I couldn't tell from my spot on the bleachers whether it was planned or not, but I didn't see anyone else notice it either." Plus cool Mr. Steward hadn't seemed that overly concerned about the fallen combatant.

"Which had made it your word against his." Mallory had stated as she had helped herself to the chips and salsa knowing he wouldn't do anything about it.

"Yep." Slightly annoyed at having his snack being jacked so to speak, the drake shrugged it off and signaled for a bigger bowl. "Anyway, there was no way Jack could go on and unless the guys could get a replacement in the next five minutes North Anaheim High would win and Greg's team would get the trip."

"Let me guess." To emphasize the obvious prediction that had to have happened with Nosedive being in involved in these matters. "You volunteered to replace Jack and Greg wasn't too happy with that."

"I may have sensed a hint of irritation in the force." The drake joked as he took a decent gulp of his drink and signaled for some chips and salsa as well to go the beverage. "He acted pretty cool with it at the time. He even said he was a fan of hockey himself, since his uncle owned a team." His rotated arm showed exactly how little importance the tidbit of information was for him back then as it was now.

Also not impressed, the red headed military duck waved off the piece of gossip as well. Humans were always trying to show off for social status. "So what happened?"

"The dance was on." His eyes took had made a slight shift in color as he thought back to gymnasium, the dance floor, and the roaring crowd. "Thrash and Mookie wanted me to set the level first but I told to them to handle things for a bit while I sat back and watch how they worked."

"I get it." It had sounded very much like a standard tactical observation used by drill sergeants to measure new blood in the ranks. "You wanted to observe the tactics of both factions, so you could coordinate their maneuvers with yours better and devise a perfect counter against the opposing team."

"Well… I wouldn't say that, exactly." The blonde duck had paused as he though over the long ago incident. "To be honest I don't really know why I held back. But I had a feeling if I started things off right away it'd come out bad for everyone." If anything it had been Greg's obviously annoyed expression changing to one of calculative amusement. "There were seven rounds all together and I sat through the first six and just watched. Heck the principle had time to tell me my file was in the system and said I could start anytime." He had been grateful for the distraction for it had calmed a small lump of anxiety that had settled for sitting so long without actually helping his friends out. "I figured 'no time like the present'. Anyway, it wasn't until the final round that I figured I'd better jump in."

"Let me guess." Mallory had stated as she swirled her soda around in its can so that it would stay fizzled as she drank. "They never saw you coming."

"We won. We took our bows and went up to the stage to pick up our prizes." He remembered the cheers and congratulations as clearly as he did any other competition he took part in. "Greg was in the crowd smirking about something as we walked up to the stage." His had recognized that particular expression plenty of times in movies and about a handful of bad guys with actual intelligence. "After we were announced the official winning and were about to receive the tickets…"

_**Flashback: North Anaheim High's Gym**_

Just as the winning team had went up to receive their reward, Gregory and his team had went up the other end and blocked the trio from getting any further. "Excuse me, but I believe there's seems to be some confusion about who rightfully won."

"What are you talk'n about Greg?" Mookie had asked with a brow raised in suspicion.

"Yeah man, we beat you North Anaheim snobs fair and square, and you know it." Thrash had stated in agreement with his friend's suspicion.

"Did you now?" The privileged boy had raised a sly eyebrow to accompany the arrogant smirk on his lips. "Interesting, see we were under the impression that this was a contest between our two respective schools?"

The school councilor had nodded in his confirmation to the question. "It was, yes."

"And don't the rules clearly state that only _active_ _members_ of either school could participate in this endeavor?"

Thrash groaned at the snob for beating around the bush instead of just getting to the point. "What are you getting at Greg?"

"What I am 'getting at,' as you put it, is that the last round was won by Mr. Flashblade here." The rich boy had taken off his round expensive glasses to clean them as he continued his explanation. "Although it was rather noble of him to volunteer to aid your team, and he was quite the formidable combatant indeed, unfortunately he isn't a student enrolled here at South Anaheim." One the glasses were to his liking, Greg had placed them on his head with a gleam of sly arrogances in his eyes. "There for, we had actually won the final round by default."

"What?" Mookie cried in disbelief. Would they seriously stick this low to win a contest? "Ah, c'mon, no way!"

"Nosedive might not be a student but he was representing South Anaheim High!" Thrash stated angrily at their long time rivals. "You lousy NAs are just sore losers and will do anything to stay on top!"

"Be that as it may, the rules are the rules." The snob had stated calmly enough as if he were some sly lawyer that knew how to control any situation. He had stared at the alien duck with that ever present fake smile, to which the duck narrowed his own eyes showing clearly that he neither fooled nor impressed by the cheap shot the human was playing. "I'm sure an upstanding athlete such as Mr. Flashblade here would know the importance of sportsmanship…"

"Indeed he does." A very deep but calm voice answered just off stage and had everyone turning his or her heads. "Although impulsive and often rebellious, my little friend honors the code of sportsmanship to the highest levels." Grin, the largest of the Mighty Ducks had made the scene as he walked towards the stage. "His older brother, being his prime example, has taught him well in this conduct."

"Hey, Grinster." The younger drake had greeted his large friend in welcome as he approached the group. "Where'd you gone off to?"

"I had set out on a journey to seek out the element of life to quench my parched soul and have returned with the key you will need on your path towards fable knowledge."

"Translation." Nosedive had chimed in after a long pause from everyone around him. "He got thirsty, went to get some water, and while he was at it, picked up my I.D."

"What I.D?" Greg had blinked, still confused.

"My new student I.D. I'm taking part in the school's Foreign Exchanged Program and got enrolled today." The blonde drake explained in his lay back manner as he leaned up against the judge's table. However, he had had soon imitated the exact same sly smile Greg had worn only moment ago when he added another tidbit of information. "Principle had me in the system by the middle of round six."

"Wait, if you were already in the system…" Thrash stated lowly as the realization had soon dawned on him.

Mookie had a grin spread across her face in excited triumph. "Then that means you were an active student during the final round, and we won!"

"What?" The boy with glasses wailed in his outrage at the claim. "That's outrageous!"

"I'm sorry, but it's true." The school councilor had stated as he glanced over the monitor that had been used to keep record over the competition, and allowed access to the school's records. "According to the records, Mr. Flashblade has indeed been given an active student account at the time of the sixth round." As if to prove the claim, he had turned the computer screen around so that everyone could see Nosedive's name and student identification number. "Which, qualified him to fully represent South Anaheim High in any school organized event, including the last round of this dance off."

"This is unacceptable!" The privileged teen had screeched loudly in his anger. He couldn't possible have been beaten on a technicality. "This is an insult!" Only he could be allowed to use technicalities to win events! He practically had made a career out of it! "You people must have rigged this from the start!" He had pointed accusingly at the team in front of him. More particularly, he had pointed at the freakishly large duck, whom looked back at him with an odd expression of both amusement and a hint a deviousness at said that the rich boy had been overreacting. The human had simply refused to be out witted by some mutant bird, and had begun to stomp over towards the alien waterfowl. "We will not stand here and be cheated out of our prize! We'll…!" A very large figure had moved in right in front of the angry human and had him freezing in his tracks.

"You wouldn't want to disturb my inner peace and tranquility now, would you?"

_**Present Time**_

"And from the looks of it, he's hasn't gotten over it yet." The amusement in the blonde mallard's voice couldn't be helped on his part. Honestly, he just couldn't understand why humans tended to hold on to grudges over little things like that. He was no saint himself, but he never really wasted more than a day at most in anger, carrying all that negativity was exhausting work and the least time he could spend on it the better.

"You knew he was going to pull something, didn't you?" McMallard had asked in awe at the twists in the story. She had remembered him mentioning the part about asking to be put in the system during the beginning of the rounds, but he had told it in such offhand manner that she forgotten it shortly after. "That's why you held back. You were waiting to make sure you were in the school's system."

"I guess." The blonde rebel had shrugged his shoulders as he sip from his cola can. "I'm not really the think before you speak/look before you leap kind of guy." He had admitted as he surveyed the scene around him. The atmosphere there was high with energy and the carefree attitude of youth. A world he could easily fit into and yet separate from in an instant whenever called upon. "I have my moments every now and then, but mostly I run on instinct. Wing always told me that I had good instincts and if nothing else I could always trust it in any situation." Mallory had only been able to study the younger drake in front of her. The expression on his face had not one of pride or arrogance, but sober and layback. It had been an expression that told of a person that new how to enjoy himself without getting caught up in all the excitement. "I had a bad feeling about starting off the rounds, so I went with it." The redhead had to smile at that and mentally agree. Even in the military, calls had to be made on gut feeling, and it was something she could relate too very easily. Perhaps they weren't that different after all.


	5. Battle Dance Pt2

_**First let me apologize up and down for the long wait! I promise I didn't give up on this fic, its just that life decided to throw me a curve ball and I was forced to put ALL of my writing on hold. Between writer's block, moving out of state, and finding a job, it was a miracle I still remember my own name! Thankfully things are slowing down now and I am making the time to reread my stuff and adding on again. Again, I'm sorry for the wait, and I'll do my best in the future to update in a timely manner, but I will require time to develop future chapters. Any ideas will be welcomed. **_

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Battle Dance Pt. 2**_

The night was young, the music hot and jumping, and everyone had been enjoying themselves by either dancing or cheering on their favorite competitors. There didn't seem to be a particular preference in styles or moves as many songs and dances ranged from retro to most modern styles. Everyone just went with what they liked and everyone else were thoroughly entertained. Nosedive had proved to be one of the most popular dancers due to the fact that he could mix and match different styles along with minor gymnastics. A real eye catching performance if anyone had to say anything about it. As the night wore on, the dance contest had continued without any incidences other than a few of the consistencies protesting loudly at being eliminated from various rounds. Thankfully none had ever escalated into any real serious thanks to the ever-present security team. Even Mallory had been impressed by their efficiency and wondered briefly if the bouncer Dive had spoken to, Tony had any military experience. She was sure that having experience in hand to hand is a qualification for security detail, wasn't it? The way he kept an eye on that trouble making rich kid from a distance sure seem to confirm the suspicions since he was never too far away, but never narrowed his sights on him fully since he had an entire room to watch.

The female duck did her part to help out the security team by keeping an eye out for any more trouble while Dive entertained the crowd with his dancing. Greg had been glaring daggers at the popular alien as the crowd cheered him along with the other combatants. He had been planning something that much was sure, as he studied his blonde opponent throughout each and every dance style while he strutted around with his date. There just didn't seem to be a single dance step that Nosedive wasn't familiar with. Every single time the music would change, he easily adapted and continued on without much pause. His stamina and endurance had easily out lasted those whom tried to join him and imitate his particular style. Most were having a blast just watching him and betting how long the next opponent would last against him. Soon the music had stopped and it was announced a short break was to be taken before the finalist could take the floor again.

"Oooo, he's really good." Kristine complimented as she took her water break before the next round. "Who would have thought that a duck could be so graceful?" Even she had to admit that the large bird had certainly earned his reputation.

"Graceful…?" Greg had growled through clenched teeth as he glared at his rival as he continued to out shine him yet again. "I'll show that web-footed dish entrée what grace is all about!" With that declaration, the miffed rich kid began to half stomped his way towards the DJ's table.

"Hmm…?" The military trained duck had narrowed her sharp green eyes at the snobbish human as he left the dance floor and made his way over to the music table. Words had been seen being exchanged and soon enough he had shook hands with the DJ. "Now what is he up to?" Smelling a rat, the commando duck decided to find the Blonde Rebel and report what she had seen. Thankfully he wasn't very hard to find since there was a circle fan asking him for his autograph. "Psssst, Nosedive!"

He had barely been able to make out the sound of her voice over the light music that was set to indicate the break but once he had realized he was being called. He quickly excused himself and moon walked right over. "What's up Mal?"

"I just saw that jerk in the jacket talking to the judges and the DJ." Mallory reported as she tracked exactly where Greg was at that moment. Her instincts wouldn't allow her being spotted and alerting the enemy that they were on to them. "I couldn't get close enough to hear, but they were all nodding in some kind of agreement."

"Say what?" The news had actually gotten the young drake to stop dancing and give his full attention to his comrade. "You think the contest is rigged?" Would his human rival actually sink that low to try and out shine him?

"Can't confirm or deny it just yet." The red headed female duck had stated as she did a quick look around to make sure they weren't being watched themselves. "I'll see if I can find out for sure, but in the mean time watch your back."

Knowing that Mallory wasn't the type to imagine something of this magnitude, the younger drake nodded. "Got ya." Figuring that it would be best to keep up appearances, the infamous Blonde Rebel back flipped into another dazzling display that caught everyone else's attention, giving the commando girl the perfect cover.

_**DJ's Table**_

As calmly and casual as she could manage around the dancing teenagers, Mallory had soon made her way towards the DJ's table. _'Okay McMallard, time for a little reconnaissance.'_ If she were going to get any information, he would be the best place to start. All she has to do is get him talking. "Excuse me?" The young man at the table looked up at the voice, surprised to see the famous hockey player. "Hi, I was just wondering if we were allowed to make any request about which songs to play next?"

"I-I'm afraid not ma'm." He stuttered nervously at the sight of the famous hockey player. He knew the blonde drake frequents this dance clubs, but he never thought he'd actually meet any of the Mighty Ducks. "With the last round coming up, we're keeping to a specific selection so as not to trip up the combatants."

Catching the word 'specific' the female duck gave a friendly yet interested smile. "Oh, what kind of selection would that be?"

This time he flushed a little in embarrassment. "Not sure, right now, they're still going through the music." As if to prove this claim, the DJ glanced back at the people whom were still arguing over cassettes and CDs. Honestly, you'd think these guys would be a little more professional seeing as they had celebrities among the crowd. "But I promise it'll be quite the show."

Alright, it looks like this guy is waiting for the green light on something himself. The military duck decided to cut her losses here. "Great!" Before she left, however, one more question came to mind. "Oh, by the way, when will the next round start?" She might as well have an idea of how much time she actually had to work with if she was going to question others.

"That'll be in another 10 to 15 minutes." That, at least, had been something he could answer with absolute certainty. "They've added an extra five to set up the music." He'll tear into the group himself if they so much as look like they'll take longer than that.

With a nod of understanding and a short wave, Mallory retreated back into the crowd. _'Okay, dead end.'_ She had gotten about half way before she spotted Greg and his lady friend leisurely sitting at a table near the snack bar. _'Not a problem.'_ It just so happened that there was an empty stool that went unnoticed by the slightly heavy crowd around the area. _'I'll just have cross into enemy territory to get the information.'_

To take any possible suspicion off herself, she pretended to get in line for the register and waited until a decent size group headed for the exit. She carefully walked just behind them so that her targets wouldn't spot her before slipping on the still vacant stool. Apparently these two chose this particular spot because it was quieter on this side of the eating area. Good. She'll be able to ease drop on them easier this way.

Getting tired of mentally critiquing the other dancers the privileged girl decided to start a conversation with her date. "So what were you talking to the DJ for?" She had asked disinterestedly as she drank her bottled water.

"Oh, I thought that this lively crowd might want to see something new, so I made a small suggestion." The overly confident young man stated mysteriously as he enjoyed his tuna melt sandwich. A true show off till the end, apparently.

The ring in his tone had Kristine raising a brow. "What kind of suggestion?" The boy may have money, but even she knew of his shady reputation.

"The kind that you and I ought to have no trouble working with." He promised with a rather patronizing pat on her hand as she toyed with a toothpick between her fingers.

In other words he wasn't going to stoop to cheating but he wasn't exactly going to play fair either. "You really want to beat him don't you?"

"Of course I do!" The brunette half shouted as if the girl made the most idiotic of statements. "That overgrown turkey had made a fool out of me in my own element and I swear I will return the favor." He vowed with a hateful glare in the unsuspecting duck's direction, whom at the moment was enjoying a cherry-soda without a care in the world. _'Just you wait duck…'_ Kristine decided it would be wise not to mention that he was grinding his teeth. Then maybe she could get through the rest of this outing with her own reputation in one piece. _'You'll soon taste bitter defeat and humiliation just as you had me the year before.'_ One thing's for sure; she won't be accepting any invitations from this obsessive little boy again.

From what Mallory had been able to pick up, the snob had definitely suggested some kind of deal with the DJ and if what that guy had said earlier was accurate, they were more than likely waiting on approval from the judges. Which means that the probability of it being illegal was minor, and if Greg really were that obsessed with beating Nosedive, then he wouldn't have paid them off. Still there was a chance that the judges won't go for it, however this guy was a little too confident that they would. The only question now was: What exactly was he planning to do?

_**12 minutes later**_

A short time went by with no incident, other than the DJ nearly getting into a shouting match at the other members for trying to delay the final round any longer. Mallory had practically hovered over her targets table listening in on anything remotely informative during the time and reported straight back to Nosedive. So far the only thing that was clear was that Greg had definitely either tried to or had made an arrangement with the DJ and judges. From what they could have been made out of it, it wasn't illegal but it was suppose to put his greatest rival at a serious disadvantage during the final round. Said feathered rival figured that since there was no other info on the alleged deal, the young drake figured it was best to wait and see what would unfold.

"All right partiers! It's time for the final round!" The DJ had soon announced once everyone had a change to rest and cool down from the last dance round. "Due to a radical anonymous suggestion, the judges have decided to add some flare to this dance off by making it a duet challenge!" That bit of news had the crowd cheering in excitement at the prospect of dancing with some of their favorite dance combatants. "So grab a partner and hit the dance floor!

"Partner?!" So that's what Greg's plan for revenge was. "Aah, that cheating sleazebag!" Mallory had seen it as easily as Greg did. How Nosedive had easily outlasted those around him. "I knew there had to be a catch to this 'invite a guest special'!" He had planned to turn the blonde duck's strength into his biggest weakness.

This concept wasn't really lost on Nosedive either. On the one hand, it would give others a chance to dance as well, and add a level of challenge to the final round. However, at the same time you'd have to choose your partner carefully or else they can greatly hinder the combatant's performance. It seemed a sort of poetic justice considering that a year ago Greg hadn't truly expected a near six-foot talking duck to be able to battle dance on a professional level. Apparently the privilege teenager was trying to recreate the circumstances of that fateful day. Yet as he mused over the past, the sound of dozen of female fans calling out to him for attention brought him back to the matter at hand. Who would he choose as his potential dance partner? It would have to be someone with a good enough balance, timing, and stamina to match his own enough to keep up. He seen several of those girls in action and knew which ones had the most skill, but truth be told there really weren't many of them that could keep up with him or even read him well enough to maneuver with him. Fact is the only ones that have been able to do so were his teammates and usually for different reasons… It was then a rather random idea came to Dive and had him focusing on a certain someone.

"Alright party people let's get things started!" Came the final announcement call for all the competitors.

Greg could be seen grinning wickedly as competitors and their chosen partners began to gather on the dance floor. This was it. The moment of triumph he had been envisioning since last year._ 'Ah, such an ego…'_ Shaking off the thought the young Mighty Duck shrugged and went back to considering his options. _'Oh well, so long as he doesn't make things too personal, there shouldn't be a problem.'_ He still had a few seconds before the song started and turned towards his chosen potential partner-

"Good luck finding someone that can measure up, Nosebleed." The snobbish human had stated arrogantly as he passed the two ducks while bumping the feathered teen's shoulder.

Thus the line had been crossed. "C'mon Mal-mal!" The drake half command as he took his teammate's hand and began walking towards the center floor. "Let's kick up a notch!"

The notion almost clicked in too late for her to understand his intentions. "Nosedive no!" She quickly pulled back on her arm before he could get her on the dance floor. "I don't know any of these dance moves!"

"Ya don't need to." The blonde stated as he turned to wrap an arm around her waist in order to get better control of her steps. "I got a plan." Once he had her on the tiled floor he moved in close to tell his plan. "Check it…" What she had heard whispered in her ear did NOT sound like a good plan.

"What?!" Where in the world did he ever get such an idea?! A cartoon?! "Have you completely lost your mind?" He seriously did not just suggest they mocked a combat session and pass it off as a dance. "I could hurt you!"

At this he gave a light chuckle as if she just told a funny joke. "No ya won't." The two of them have been ruffling each other's feathers long enough to know that the action wasn't mocking. "I've actually been paying attention through all those sessions." Something that he will deny to anyone else should they ask him about it. "You couldn't lay a hand on me if ya wanted to." As far as he figured, her fighting skills ought to work in their favor well enough. He just needs to maneuver her the way he needed to in order to give the illusion of actual dancing.

The music soon began and all the competitors quickly go to their positions and prepared for their chosen moment to start. It was a soft oriental piece, which had a touch hip-hop in it. The soft vocalization of the singer was soothing and almost hypnotic. Nosedive pulled a reluctant Mallory towards the center of the dance floor where there always seemed to be an empty circle. Which, suited the young drake just fine for if he was going to pull this off he and his partner were going to need the space. With a few quick instructions for the combat duck to take a martial art fighting stance, the two aliens began to circle each other in time to the rhythm.

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Where's my samurai**

The odd performance had easily attracted the eye of the surrounding crowd, as well as the other combatants. "They're all watching us…" Mallory murmured under her breath as her attention was divided between the audience and her mocked combat partner.

"Forget them. I'm your 'opponent' remember?" The blonde feathered teen coached his dance partner as he easily blocked out all the people around them. "Just pretend we're in another training session and follow my lead." He had added a smart grin and a wink to these instructions. "It'll be fine, trust me."

There is was again… That same bold confidence he tended to posses at any given moment. Whither it was on the ice rink during practice, any game during the hockey season, out in the battle field or even here in some childish contest. He just seemed to be an endless well of it. If he were only a few years older, he would have made a fine young recruit of the Ducaine Military Academy. It was just so… inspiring.

**I've been searching for a man**

**All across Japan**

**Just to find, to find my samurai**

It started out as mocked thrust, blocks, and parries that were turned into fancy hand holds, smooth body turns that had her following the pull and rotation until she was pulled in with her back to him. Recognizing the hold as one used on a smaller opponent, she 'countered' by bringing a fist up and back as if to punch him. Obviously the move was exactly what he had wanted, for he caught the fist and slipped his fingers in it to turn it into a borderline intimate hand hold.

**Someone who is strong**

**But still a little shy**

**Yes I need, I need my samurai**

Then he turned them around in a slow sweeping motion one would except in a waltz; an odd way to simulate a 'struggle', but she supposed it worked well enough for what they were trying to do. The red head waited for one particular loose spin to duck from under his hold, turn on her heel, and half launch herself at him as if to hang wire him when he purposely exposed his neck while bracing his stance. She only hoped she hadn't put too much force behind the motion, or else this would turn out badly for both of them.

**Ay, ay, ay,**

**I'm your little butterfly**

**Green, black and blue,**

**Make the colors in the sky**

The moment the connection was made, he hooked his own arm around her waist, turned with her and used the momentum to send them both spinning in perfect balance on one leg. Then, using his upper body strength, he lifted her up higher and tossed up her shortly, caught her at and slight angle that reversed the spinning they did earlier. Mallory had kept her legs up and straight in order to keep from tripping him as she kept her arm locked to secure herself while she though of what to do next. Making a mental note to remember that little trick in order to counter it next sparring match.

**Ay, ay, ay, I'm your little butterfly**

**Green, black and blue,**

**Make the colors in the sky**

Normally she'd fling an opponent towards the wall if they had gotten this close, but she doubted that'd be a good idea. So instead the moment they stopped and her feet were on the ground, she pulled him down into a front roll. Both curled and rolled completely to avoid injury, came right back up to their feet with a slight hop to put some distance between them and went right back to their 'defensive stances'.

**I've been searching in the woods**

**And high upon the hills**

**Just to find, to find my samurai**

This time, McMallard found the Blonde Rebel mirroring her slow katas as they circled each other again. Looks like they were falling on Martial Arts exercises now to match the slower tempo of the lyrics. Fine by her; it gave her the chance to lead and time to at least figure out what they could try next. She certainly had to give the drake some credit, not out loud of course, but he had certainly proved to be a competent student after all.

**Someone who won't regret**

**To keep me in his net**

**Yes I need, I need my samurai**

Needless to say, the surrounding audience was mesmerized by the spectacle. The new style of dance matched the theme of the music greatly and the way the two performers read each other was perfectly in sync. Fact was that the rest of the contestants had actually paused to watch the two birds; which naturally took attention away from Greg and Kristine's little kabuki/pop style number.

**Ay, ay, ay,**

**I'm your little butterfly**

**Green, black and blue,**

**Make the colors in the sky**

Realizing that they were losing their captive audience and hearing the word 'duck' mentioned a few time, Greg knew his plan was working. Oh, he could just imagine his rival desperately trying to adjust to his less than adequate dance partner. Being forced to hold back greatly, while the other most likely stumbled to keep up to his pace. Practically giddy with the idea, Greg decided not to wait for the sound of laughter to glance over and see how his competitor was faring. What he saw was both ducks cart-wheeling past each other, short sprinted around in a half circle, and then launched into identical sideways barrel rolls before landing and then straightening into a mocked grappling of hands.

**Ay, ay, ay, I'm your little butterfly**

**Green, black and blue,**

**Make the colors in the sky**

The crowd awed and applauded at move, completely taken back by the dynamics of it and the 'love story' they were projecting into the moments. The snob of a human's eye twitched in agitation for he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The two birds weren't even dancing! At least the female duck wasn't! He infuriating feathered rival had been able to turn some of those moves into pass-ible technique, but she obviously doesn't even know the first thing about a step-by-step technique. How could these brainless dolts possibly mistake such ridged and semi sudden movements as a dancing style?!

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Where's my samurai**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Where's my samurai**

'_Looks like their going to play the whole song through…' _Nosedive thought to himself as he matched his stance and pacing with his partner's down to the letter._ 'Hope Mal-mal can hang in there a bit longer…'_ He was only too thankful that the constant changing lights and occasional flashes the entertainment crew insisted on having for the contest hid a lot of the near reflexes blows the combat trained duck would automatically fall back on during one of his counters. _'She's doing pretty good seeing this is her first time doing anything like this…'_ Indeed the fighting style the female duck was using looked enough like a dance that it was easy for him to adapt to. Who knew that combat chicks could be so graceful when they wanted to?

**Ay, ay, ay,**

**I'm your little butterfly**

**Green, black and blue,**

**Make the colors in the sky**

'_How long have we been doing this…?'_ Mallory found herself thinking. Without any knowledge of the song, she had no idea if they were half way through, or if they were nearly finished. _'If feels like we've been at this for days…'_ She had longed settled for watching Nosedive for any signs of that since he obviously knew what he was doing and was only too grateful for that. His speed and stamina really were things to be admired and she couldn't help but noticed how smoothing he utilizes both in his movements. _'And yet like we've only just begun…'_ She couldn't remember exactly when they began reading each other, but it definitely worked to their advantage. Who knew you could develop such similar levels of stamina, speed, and flexibility for combat by dancing all the time?

**Ay, ay, ay, I'm your little butterfly**

**Green, black and blue,**

**Make the colors in the sky**

'_This isn't happening..!'_ Greg's mind raged as the crowd just ate up the strange new dance style as those whom were recording the event for prosperity. _'This is NOT going to happen!'_ A mutated main ingredient of a blue plate special had once again stolen his precious spotlight from him! _'I will not lose to a blasted duck!'_

His scowl tightened and his nostril flared as he angrily searched the crowd for something, anything that could he could use to turn the tables. There. A waitress, holding a serving tray of ice water. Walking near the dividing short wall and distributing to the audience and to the combatants that had stopped dancing in favor of watching.

**Ay, ay, ay,**

**I'm your little butterfly**

**Green, black and blue,**

**Make the colors in the sky**

Seeing his 'ace' the boy suddenly forced his partner into a wide spin that had them whirling into the small group. The startled teens jumped back, knocking into each other and the tray. Kristine screeched as the cold cups tumbled and splattered all over her outfit and right onto the dance floor. In a chilled panic, the blonde took off for the restroom while her 'date' chased after her, but not without a final glance over his shoulder to make sure that his rivals were maneuvering right for the spill.

**Ay, ay, ay, I'm your little butterfly**

**Green, black and blue,**

**Make the colors in the sky**

The two ducks were 'grappling' and sideways spinning to the rhythm of the music while getting ready for the final steps. From what Mallory could tell, they were going to pull of a hang wire move that would most likely be turned into some kind of spinning move. Maybe even end up with one of those fancy dips that she had seen in the books she had been studying. Was she suppose to go limp in his hold than stiffen out, or the other way around? Maybe she should turn the tables on him and reverse the rolls. That ought to catch the crowd's attention, right? Wait, why is she suddenly getting too involved in this? It's just a dance competition, for crying out loud, its not like they're trying to impress the board of defense or anything. She'll just follow the rebellious teen's lead until this whole thing is over and they can finally go home.

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Where's my samurai**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Ay, iyaiyai,**

**Where's my samurai**

As the song came steadily to an end the two ducks had felt the wet patch of floor too late to avoid it. The red-head's foot slipped right from under her, but instead of falling with her, the Blonde Rebel threw the both of them into a side spin as if he was throwing the both of them down in order to dodge a flying projectile. Mallory had one arm around his shoulders, and Nosedive had an arm around her waits as he threw his weight into the spin in order to get underneath her body. He landed in a half crouch half split with one leg and arm extended behind him for balance, and her body on the lap of his bend knee.

**Ay, ay, ay,**

**I'm your little butterfly**

**Green, black and blue,**

**Make the colors in the sky**

The landing position had him with his weight thrown back, which would have knocked them over if Mallory hadn't been falling in the opposite direction. The result had been the two of them counter balancing each other in a rather intimate looking pose that had the awe struck crowd going wild with cheers and applause. The utter shock of the close call and save had them staring into each other's wide eyes and very aware of exactly how close the two of them were. They couldn't even hear neither the audience anymore nor the dying notes of the song ending. Both just sat there frozen. Clear blue eyes were peering into rich green full of shock and concern and equally confused as to how they wound up in that position. Their beaks were so close that if either one of them were to turn, they would have brushed against the other.

"Whoa…" That was all Nosedive had been able to manage to say.

His partner, however, didn't recover as fast. _'What just happened…? What am I doing?!'_ It wasn't long before Mallory realized what she was doing and instantly pulled back, stood up and straightened out. "Um… Ahem. Good strategy." The red headed military duck complimented as she cleared her throat in an attempted to shake off the awkwardness of the moment. "You're pretty fast on your feet there."

"Hmm?" Nosedive hadn't been so quick to realize the awkwardness of it just yet. "Oh yeah… yeah, thanks." The slightly younger drake stated after 'waking up' so to speak and picking himself off the ground as well. _'What just happened back there?'_ His mind going blank like it had just done had been completely new, and seriously weird for the teenager. "I, ah, I'm surprised you kept up." Guess the night's wild activities were finally catching up to him after all. "Ya got great reflexes."

_**Snack Bar Picnic Area**_

After another awkward moment the two retreated to the snack bar where they took their seats to cool down and recover from the both experiences. Nosedive offered to get some drinks for them, to which the female duck agreed to, wanting some time to think. Despite the noise and movement around her, she found herself looking back towards the dance floor, thinking. A couple of orange cones had been place around the wet spot while a janitor got to work drying it up. The duck soon realized that she had narrowly avoided a serious injury. From what she tell of the position, if Nosedive hadn't lived up to his name just then and altered their path, she could have very well slam her head against the edge of the divider. Not just her, but anyone else that could have slipped on that particular spot. Come to think of it, if someone had been facing the divider, like Dive was at the time, when they slipped they could have easily crush their collarbone against it. How in the world did that puddle even get there? All manner of refreshments were served and kept off the dance floor because of its sleek surface. But there were so many people leaning over to watch the dancers that it could have been an accident. Whatever it was, as far as things went that could have ended a lot worse. Maybe once Dive got back with the drinks and they had time to get over the shock some more, she could think straight.

"I can't believe you did that!" An out raged cry had easily caught her attention seeing as the girl shouting was practically right in front of her table. "This outfit is dry clean only! Kristine shrieked like a banshee as she feverously wiped at her wet blouse with napkins.

"Will you calm down, woman." Greg stated nonchalantly as he cleaned his glasses to hide his nerves. "It was an accident." The judges were going to be announcing the winners soon and since he didn't see what had become of the duck he wasn't about to miss the final results of the contest.

The blonde scoffed in fury at such a blatant lie. "Accident nothing!" She even went as far as to stomp her foot at the indecency of it all. "You deliberately broke off from our technique into a sloppy and needless spin!"

"It was a necessary risk to-"

"Necessary?!" That had been the last straw for the girl. "Necessary?!" All night she has had to put up with being rudely treated by an red headed upstart, be made a fool of in front of their peers, had been ignored for most of the night when she wasn't dancing, AND had to endure the indignity of being upstaged by ducks! "You ruined the entire number just to spill water!" He had wanted to knock over that tray of water in the hopes of tripping up his rival. "And with no guarantee that they would even land on that patch of floor!" She wasn't above competing hard against others of her craft but she drew the line at deliberately sabotaging her own performance. "All this for a ridiculous rivalry over some uncouth school competition that wasn't even going to nationals!"

"Yes necessary!" The pristine young man half growled as his patience reached its end with the insufferable female. "That foal bird made a fool out of me on my own turf!" Nationals? Ha! What use did he have for such things, when he could simply buy the competition! "This is a matter of pride, woman!" He suppose he should have know better than to think some silly ballerina would know anything about pride, dressed as they are! "And I will return the jester on his, one way or another!" Regardless of wither his won over the duck didn't matter so long as that blasted bird lost! "Now shut your mouth!"

How she wound up from her table to them, she wasn't sure. "Why you pompous little weasel!" All Mallory could register was that she had the little twerp by the shirt collar and had him up in the air. "Someone could have broken their neck out there!" Sabotaging their routine was one thing, but there had been other dancers on that floor, and at the speed and rate most of them were going it would have ended in disaster!

Shocked at the sudden appearance of the female duck the boy could only stare before realizing he was not on the ground. "How dare you!" Greg shouted at the indignity of being manhandled as he began to struggle. "Put me down!" He demanded as the military duck began walking after spotting something to her left. "What are you doing?!" He demanded loudly as he tried to free himself from the surprisingly strong grip.

"I'm putting you with the rest of the trash!" McMallard barked out loud in her current temperament. No way was she going to stand for this! "In the garbage!" Grabbing the snob's belt she got ready to slam him head first into a particularly sticky trashcan.

A large hand caught her upper arm before she could pull the weight up into position. "Hold up there, ma'm." She turned towards the deep voice to find Tony, the club bouncer, holding her back. "I'm going to have to ask you to put the boy down." He stated calmly and evenly to show the seriousness of the situation.

As much as she wanted to pull a smart-alecky move, like 'put the boy down' on his head, she instead took a breath and did as she was told. Bad enough she got pulled into the rivalry, she didn't need to go and add bad publicity. "Oh thank goodness you're here!" That young Mr. Stewart hammed it up, now that he had his own muscle to deal with these freak. "This insane bird just assaulted me!" He'll have she and her date thrown out before the night is out!

"Yeah, and after the stunt I saw you pulled out there, I don't blame her." The bouncer stated with a serious tone, a point glare, and crossed arms.

"What?"

"Don't try playing dumb, other people saw it too, and you all but confessed it to your girl here seeing as ya'll are making another scene." Without batting an eye, Tony looked between both the blonde and the brunette before voicing his next words, knowing full well what would come. "I'm going to have to ask you both to leave." These prissy trust fund kids were always a handful to deal with, but no way was he about to let something like this slide.

There was a twitching of the eye behind the right lens of his glasses as the words registered in his head. "What?!" The rich boy couldn't believe what the man had implied that he, Gregory Stewart, had to leave. "You can't just-!" However, whatever rant he was about to give had suddenly been drowned out, by a sudden gush of cold water hitting his square in the face.

In front of him stood his livid date for the night, an empty tall glass aimed at him, and a rather shocked Nosedive with a tray that consisted of two smoothies and one current glass of water. The drake had bought the fruity drinks from the snack bar, knowing the healthier vitamins would help energize him and his teammate after such an intense 'work out'. Those types of drink were always served with water in order to wash out the after taste. He had noticed Mal in some kind of confrontation with Greg and walked over towards the distracted group wondering what all the commotion was all about. Since Tony was involved, the Blonde Rebel knew there was going to be troubled. Yet before he could inquire as to what happened, the blonde human turned, found him just behind her, grabbed the first cup she saw, the iced water, and splashed it right in Greg's face! Later Mallory would wonder if it had been coincidence or karma, but for now she simply sneered at the poetic justice of it all.

Kristine had wailed at the soaked boy without mercy. "I never want to see you again, Greg!" Soon after, she did and about face, huffed, and marched for the door with her head stubbornly held high. "Aah! I've never been so humiliated in my life!" Not only was her outfit ruined, her night wasted, and her pride wounded, now she was being kicked out of a public dance club! And to think she had actually admired the rich boy!

"Sounds like I've missed the good part." Nosedive stated with grin and a glance at his spite fire teammate, giving her a smoothie while hoping to be filled in on the details.

Yet before Mallory could jump at the chance to report, the booming voice of the D.J. called over the loud speakers. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the votes are in! The winners of this year's Summer Dance Off are…" There was a traditional long pause to build up the tension and make the final check on the votes and scores. "Nosedive Flashblade and Mallory McMallard!"

"I stand corrected." The young drake stated over the cheering crowd as he picked up his own drink and the two toasted with a clank of glass at their victory.


End file.
